1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless mouse controllers and computer systems employing wireless mouse controllers. The present invention further relates to methods of wireless control of computer systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
Wireless mouse controllers have a number of advantages over the more common wire connected mouse controllers employed in computer systems. First of all, wireless mouse controllers offer more flexibility to the user to position him or her self relative to the computer. This can reduce strain and tiredness associated with computer use. Also, wireless mouse controllers reduce the amount of wires connected over or around a desktop and reduce clutter and complicated wiring tangles. This also creates a cleaner look to the overall system and can give the computer system a more sophisticated and/or expensive look.
This avoidance of wiring becomes increasingly significant as more add on peripherals are included in typical computer systems which can result in workplace clutter.
The wireless mouse controllers currently available are either infrared based or RF based transmission systems. The infrared systems are the simplest and least expensive, however, they require a line of sight to the receiver. This can result in inconsistent transmission as the mouse controllers is moved or if other objects block the transmission path. RF systems do not suffer from this problem but are more expensive than infrared systems. In particular, the reliability of transmission in RF systems at a given range depends on the RF frequency and the power and quality of the transmitter. Therefore, maintaining transmission reliability requires more expensive higher frequency transmitters and/or higher power transmitters. Nonetheless, RF systems are increasingly being used for wireless mouse controllers over infrared systems due to their performance advantages.
Undoubtedly the primary reason that wireless mouse controllers have not displaced wire connected mouse controllers to a greater extent is the need for replacing batteries. When batteries fail in a wireless mouse controlled computer system the system is useless until the batteries are replaced. This is obviously a significant inconvenience when the battery failure is not expected. As a result of these limitations wireless mouse controllers have not been able to fulfill the potential of replacing wired mouse controllers in computer systems.